Brianna Moore of Oak Park went fishing one day on Belle Isle and noticed hundreds of cigarette butts discarded around her favorite place to relax.

On roadways across the metro Detroit area, the 17-year-old saw people throwing their cigarette butts out the car window and into the street.

“I saw people flicking their cigarettes out the car like it’s nothing,” Moore said. “I see them in the river at Belle Isle and Elizabeth Park (in Trenton) when I go fishing; in garbage cans wherever you go. I noticed smokers walking down the street or in areas that are enjoyed by children and it saddened me.”

Advertisement

Moore, who recently moved to Oak Park with her mother, Marilyn Madison, will be a senior at Detroit Cass Tech High School in the fall. But it was during a freshman biology class in high school when she came up with an idea to do something about all the cigarette butts accumulating in public places.

“I wanted to recycle cigarette butts, but found out recycling places around here don’t take cigarettes,” Moore lamented. “I went on the Internet and found a place that does.”

Moore discovered that TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade in Trenton, N.J. recycles cigarette butts, andestimates she and her mother have sent about 200,000 cigarette butts to the East Coast recycling facility.

“I collect them myself but a lot of people drop them off,” Moore said. “We put them in plastic bags and put them in a box and send them to New Jersey — they (TerraCycle) pay for it.”

Jeff Krantz of TerraCycle said an estimated 3 trillion cigarette butts are littered around the U.S. each year, while participants of TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade have collected more than one ton of cigarette-related waste since the program began in 2012.

Krantz said that, according to Keep America Beautiful, 65 percent of all cigarette butts are disposed of improperly and cigarette waste accounts for 38 percent of all U.S. roadway litter.

And that’s where caring people like Moore come in.

In 2010, Moore formed her own non-profit organization called Green Life Saver Recycling Foundation.

“I collect cigarette butts, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, and newspapers,” she said. “I don’t get paid – it’s just something I came up with and got going. The environment is so important. My birthday actually falls on Earth Day (April 22).

“The cigarette butts — there are so many, and they are so tiny to count,” she continued. “I get a lot of help. I got my local Boys & Girls Club in Highland Park (Fauver-Martin Club) involved. They have helped so much.”

Collecting cigarette butts isn’t all Moore does. She also collects pop can tabs for The Ronald McDonald House in Detroit and, to date, has collected over 100,000 tabs.

“They recycle pop tabs locally but it takes so many to make a difference,” Moore said.

Moore also started a non-profit program called Operation Warm Heart Warm-up.

“I see children walk to school in the winter months, and their heads and ears aren’t covered,” Moore said. “I took up a collection for hats and gloves through social media and through my Boys & Girls Club.”

Moore said she also noticed some folks just don’t have enough to eat.

“During the Christmas holiday we collected 450 meals for families in need,” Moore said. “I reached out through social media and started a collection of mostly non-perishable items, and even gave away turkeys and hams.”

Moore’s most recent accomplishment was getting an “A” in her algebra class last year.

“She was working for a 4.0 grade point average overall and got an A in algebra,” said Jeanette Kwiatkowski, club director at the Boys & Girls Club in Highland Park. “She does a whole lot in the community. She helps younger kids with their homework assignments, and has been helping me at the Boys & Girls Club for nine years.”

Moore said she wants to be a psychologist and is hoping to attend either Howard University in Washington D.C., or Alabama State University.

“When I go to college I will continue with my Green Life Saver Foundation, and just try and get more people involved,” she said. “This is my senior year, so there’s a lot to think about to get ready for my college education.

“But I am only 17 and if I want my children or grandchildren to enjoy the precious things Mother Nature has provided for us, we must stop abusing our water systems, our vegetation, lands and environment, (and) especially our ozone.”

For more information on how to help Moore, call the Boys & Girls Club in Highland Park at 313-868-8450. To sign up for TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade, visit www.terracycle.com.